Ochse falls short at Empire State Building Run-Up

JAMES OCHSE, The Morning Call

Jim Ochse wins the Empire State Building Run-Up in 1980. Now 60, he will attempt to win his age group (60-64) in Wednesday night's event on February 4th, in New York. /(Ed. Note: SPORTS - CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / JAMES OSCHSE - mc-empire-state-building-run-up-02032015)

Jim Ochse wins the Empire State Building Run-Up in 1980. Now 60, he will attempt to win his age group (60-64) in Wednesday night's event on February 4th, in New York. /(Ed. Note: SPORTS - CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / JAMES OSCHSE - mc-empire-state-building-run-up-02032015) (JAMES OCHSE, The Morning Call)

Of The Morning Call

Find out how Allentown's 60-year-old Jim Ochse did at the Empire State Building Run-Up.

Allentown's Jim Ochse didn't have the best of evenings on Wednesday.

The 60-year-old, who won the 1980 and 1982 Empire State Building Run-Ups, had hoped to win his age group in what he said would be his final attempt at climbing the 1,575 steps over 86 flights of stair inside New York City's iconic skyscraper.

Instead, he finished eighth in the 60-69 age group, 163rd overall, finishing in 25 minutes, 46 seconds, almost double the time (13 minutes) he had trained to accomplish.

Chris Kraft of Emmaus, a 49-year-old editor at Runner's World, finished 19th in the 40-49 age group, 119th overall, in a time of exactly 21 minutes.

Christian Riedl of Germany won the 38th annual run up the Empire State Building Wednesday night with a time of 10 minutes and 16 seconds, his first victory at the Manhattan skyscraper.

Singapore's Suzy Walsham won the women's heat with a time of 12:30, her record sixth victory.

About 200 people raced the 86 floors 1,576 steps in all from the lobby of the building to the observation deck. Runners in eight different heats, some competing for charity, others having won lottery entrance, took to the stairs in a staggered start at the Midtown Manhattan office building.

Riedl, 34, was ranked third in the 2014 year-end Towerrunning World Cup rankings.

Walsham, 41, previously won the Empire State Building Run- Up in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2014. She was the top-ranked woman in the 2014 World Cup rankings.

This year's race was organized by NYCRUNS, its first year managing the race that began in 1978. In previous years it was organized by New York Road Runners, the group that puts on the New York Marathon.